This article is from page 19 of the 2011-10-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
A GENTLEMAN, an innovator, a friend and a man who has given so much to traditional music and to his adopted home town of Miltown Malbay. Many tributes have been paid to Muiris Ó Rocháin, co-founder of the Willie Clancy Summer School, who passed away last week after a short illness.
Some of the most poignant words came from the man most associated with Muiris, the co-founder of the Willie Clancy Summer School, Harry Hughes. The pair, who met when they were both teaching at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point in the late 1960s, were involved in numerous different music and local history projects over the years.
“He is a great loss. From the day I met him until the day he died, there was never a bad word spoken between us. He was a gentleman and a generous man and a man with a great since of humour. He took his work seriously and he took his music seriously but he never took himself too seriously,” Harry told The Cla re People yesterday.
“I think he has left a tremendous legacy behind him – not just in traditional music but in a number of fields. When we started the school, there was nothing really like it in traditional music. When you think about it, how many festivals there are around the county now?”
Tributes were also paid by John Lynch, head of the Kilfenora Céilí Band, who said that the Willie Clancy Summer School was a great boost to traditional music in Ireland.
“He will be sorely missed. When himself and Harry [Hughes] set up the Willie Clancy Summer School, there was nothing like it in Ireland. They were way ahead of their time,” said John.
“When the Willie Clancy Summer School got going, traditional music in Ireland was way different from how it is today. I was 17 years old when the first Willie Clancy week took place and at that stage there weren’t a lot of people playing traditional music. Both Muiris and Harry are so well respected by everyone in the traditional community and they did so much to help that tradition.
“He will be sorely missed by everyone in traditional music and, on behalf of the Kilfenora Céilí Band, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family.”
Alongside his many great musical achievements, Muiris can also take the credit for helping to save his adopted home in Miltown Malbay. The Willie Clancy Summer School raises an estimated € 6 million for the west Clare economy each year.
“Muiris was a man of great foresight and vision and that was a key part of the success of the school. No matter how much the school grew though, he always kept the common touch, he was always down to earth and interested in what was going on on the ground,” said Cllr Michael Hillery (FF).
“The Willie Clancy Summer School has been a huge boost to Miltown over the decades — not just to Miltown but to all the neighbouring towns as well. There are a number of businesses in town that wouldn’t have survived had it not been for the Willie Clancy Summer School.
“He will be missed by everyone in the town and we would all like to extend our sympathies to his wife Una, his daughter Maura and his son Seamus.”